Friday, May 04, 2018

Fri-Yay: Sitcom Renewal Chances: The Status Before Upfronts

It's time for another edition of Fri-Yay! That means we will take a look back on some sitcom happenings in recent days or weeks or other fun sitcomy stuff. It's a sitcom lover's paradise! Happy Fri-Yay!

Fresh Off teh Boat

by Vincent

It's officially May, which tends to be a nausea-inducing time for TV fans: Upfronts. Upfronts is when networks have to make the final decision on their schedules for the next TV season, which usually means a slew of renewal and cancellation news across the board - particularly for network television. Many shows have already been renewed, but there are still many sitcoms whose fates have yet to be determined that will surely be hearing the final news on whether they're a go for next season over the next few weeks. Last year's Upfronts were particularly brutal, with veteran series like 2 Broke Girls and Last Man Standing shockingly getting the boot at the very last minute. Just a note: Upfronts begin on May 13, so the final news on all network TV shows' statuses for the 2018-2019 season have to be finalized in the next few weeks. In this blog post, I'll write a bit about each "on the bubble" sitcom's chances and give my final prediction.

This post will be focusing on network sitcoms only, since cable economics work out a bit differently and don't adhere to the same schedule or financial decisions as network TV.

Fresh Off the Boat (ABC): Fresh Off the Boat seems to be an 11th hour renewal every year, despite the fact that it has consistently solid ratings and a lot of critical acclaim. While Fresh has never quite taken off the way some ABC staples like Modern Family or The Goldbergs have, it's a decent tent-pole and I would be surprised if ABC parted ways with it. Renewed

Speechless (ABC): Similar to Fresh Off the Boat, Speechless is a consistent "good not great" ratings player. That's the type of show that is often prone to a surprise cancellation (see: 2 Broke Girls and Last Man Standing last year), but unlike those shows, Speechless is young (meaning less expensive) and still feels like a valuable part of a strong night of comedy. Renewed

black-ish (ABC): black-ish transitioned from lead-out to anchor this year, and its ratings have mostly held up fairly decently - and blossomed after Roseanne's return provided a boost to ABC's entire Tuesday line-up. On the brink of being syndicated and with a spin-off chugging along on Freeform, I see no reason to let this one go. Renewed

American Housewife (ABC): American Housewife is one of those shows you never seem to hear anyone talk about but manages to consistently outperform almost all of the shows that you do. It gets help from its Modern Family lead-in, but overall this show is looking like a very solid player and will surely be back next year. Renewed

Superior Donuts (CBS): CBS's once dominant Monday line-up is in some trouble. All of the series tend to rate marginally at best, and with Big Bang ending the network is in search for a replacement other than its own spin-off Young Sheldon. That show is not Superior Donuts, which adopted the 9PM Monday slot that powerhouses like Everybody Loves Raymond and Two and a Half Men once occupied and saw it consistently in 4th place ahead of only The CW. Cancelled

Man with a Plan (CBS): Man with a Plan is far from the huge hit CBS wanted it to be last year, but it does consistently OK and is not the network's biggest problem in the comedy department. It will likely squeak by for at least one more year until CBS can find some decent Monday anchors. Renewed

Kevin Can Wait (CBS): This show has essentially become a King of Queens reboot, which sort of shows how desperate CBS is to bring back its old Monday night line-ups. It's the best-rated show of a disappointing night, which is good enough for another year. Renewed

Life in Pieces (CBS): Life in Pieces has always felt like an odd outlier on CBS's line-up, a high-concept single-camera comedy amidst a sea of traditional multi-camera sitcoms (or spin-offs of those sitcoms, in the case of Young Sheldon). Its ratings sort of reflect that, as it sheds off most of the Big Bang Theory/Young Sheldon audience the night begins with, but that audience is so huge it still looks pretty good. Renewed

Great News (NBC): Tina Fey-penned Great News pulled in truly miserable ratings over the course of the two seasons it has aired thus far, even managing to shed most of Will & Grace's initially huge audience when it was placed in the 9:30 lead-out slot. That said, NBC's other freshman comedies somehow managed to perform similarly awful or even worse, so Great News still sits in May, four months after its finale aired, with a fighting chance for renewal. Still, my guess is NBC doesn't take a chance at another miserably-rated season. Cancelled

AP Bio (NBC): AP Bio had a lot of initial hype and a cushy post-Olympics launch, but has not managed to capitalize on it, shedding most of Superstore's audience and falling far below The Good Place's season average. If NBC renews any freshman comedy, I'd place bets on this one (its ratings are somewhat less terrible than Great News and Champions) but I'm guessing NBC cleans house with its freshman comedies. Cancelled

Champions (NBC): In NBC's already bad freshman comedy situation, Champions has emerged as the worst aspect of it, and has absolutely zero shot at a renewal. Cancelled

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox): Brooklyn Nine-Nine started off the year terribly, earning series low after series low and falling into "this needs to be cancelled" territory. After a last-minute move to Sundays upon its return this spring, its ratings have shaped up a bit. That, in addition to its dedicated fans starting a bit of an internet rallying call, might be enough to get it to one more year, at least on some format. Renewed (but potentially moves networks to a streaming service)

The Mick (Fox): After a surprisingly strong start last year, The Mick's ratings fell considerably this season, but Fox's comedy situation is likely dire enough that it will survive another year to pad out the line-up. Renewed

The Last Man on Earth (Fox): Last Man's ratings have looked really ugly this spring after years of consistently decent (if not great) numbers. Still, like The Mick, Fox will have enough holes that it likely survives - the only thing it has to worry about is if Fox cuts back comedy hours next season. Still, going with...Renewed

LA to Vegas (Fox): These low-rated Fox shows are sort of all in a similar place to me - I could see any of them surviving but could also see all of them being cut if Fox downsizes its comedy hours. Still, as a low-rated rookie, this show seems like the most likely to go first. Cancelled

Ghosted (Fox): See LA to Vegas, except Fox actually pulled this before it finished out its season, so it seems even less likely to return. Cancelled

There's my prediction on these sitcoms' fates. In two weeks I'll check back to see how I did!


Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Sunday, March 26

The Simpsons - "When Nelson Met Lisa" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
A future tale of Springfield's most unlikely couple.

The Great North - "Woodfellas Adventure" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The entire town of Lone Moose is determined to win the annual Cavalcade of Ships parade; Wolf uncovers a parade secret that could change everything.

Bob's Burgers - "Show Mama From the Grave" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Bob takes Linda and the kids to visit his mother's grave, but finding the headstone is harder than he expected; Teddy makes a grave mistake while doing repairs in the Belcher's house.

HouseBroken - "Who's Obsessed? (A Lifetime Original)" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
When Chief joins a walking group, a beautiful dog named Ruby tries to get close to him, but her intentions are not what they seem; Elsa's quest to make female friends gets derailed when she becomes suspicious of Ruby.

Bunk'd: Learning the Ropes - "Camp Fails and Beaver Tales" (Disney Channel, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Lou, Parker, Noah and Destiny head to Dusty Tush, Wyo., to open up a new camp at a dude ranch that they purchased from The Marshall.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 20)

Saturday, March 25

  • Halle Bailey (grown-ish) - Halle appears on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
  • Mae Whitman (Up Here/Arrested Development) and Carlos Valdes (Up Here) - Mae and Carlos talk about Hulu's Up Here on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.


New on DVD/Blu-ray (November-March)

Frasier - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Ghosts - Season One Hogan's Heroes - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Ten Growing Pains - The Complete Series

11/08 - Frasier - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/08 - Young Rock - Season Two (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/15 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Seven / The Complete Season Eight
11/22 - That '70s Show - The Complete Series (Mill Creek)
11/29 - Ghosts - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
12/06 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - 70th Anniversary Ultimate Christmas Collection
12/13 - And Just Like That... - The Complete First Season
12/13 - Hogan's Heroes - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
01/03 - Andy Richter Controls the Universe - The Complete Series (2023 Release)
01/27 - Master of None - Season Three / The Complete Series
02/21 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Nine / The Complete Season Ten
02/28 - Growing Pains - The Complete Series
03/28 - Rick and Morty - Season 8 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD Releases / DVD Reviews Archive / SitcomsOnline Digest


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

03/25 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Arrested Development Staying on Netflix (and Leaving Hulu); Grey's Anatomy Gets Season 20 Renewal
03/24 - Rewind TV Celebrates Mork & Mindy's 45th Anniversary on Earth Day; Disney's 6th Season of Raven's Home on April 9
03/23 - Antenna TV's Earth Day My Favorite Martian Marathon; Neil Patrick Harris Returns on How I Met Your Father
03/22 - Game Show Network Orders Tom Cavanagh Hosted Game Show; A Black Lady Sketch Show Returns for Season 4
03/21 - All That Stars to Reunite for Good Burger 2; Jim Belushi Returns For Another Season of Growing Belushi
03/20 - 2023 90s Con Recap in Hartford; Bel-Air Gets Season 3 on Peacock
03/19 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 20, 2023)
03/18 - SitcomsOnline Digest: New Sitcoms for Terry Crews and Wendi McLendon-Covey; Zachary Levi Holding Out Hope for Chuck Movie
03/17 - AXS TV Acquires The Monkees for Retro Night Block; HBO Max's The Other Two Returns in May
03/16 - Monk Returns with One Final Case on Peacock; John Mulaney Gets 3rd Netflix Comedy Special
03/15 - Apple TV+ Orders Comedy with Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey; CBS 2023 Season Finale Dates
03/14 - Disney+ Comedy American Born Chinese Premieres May 24; Tim Robinson Comedy to Return May 30 on Netflix
03/13 - New Girl Coming to Hulu and Peacock; Apple TV+ Renews Shrinking for Season 2
03/12 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 13, 2023)
03/11 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Beavis and Butt-Head Gets Second Season Renewal; Roles Cast in Bedrock Series
03/10 - Act Your Age Opens as Biggest Launch in Bounce History; Starz Comedy Blindspotting Returns April 14
03/09 - Mary Tyler Moore Film Premieres This May on HBO; Mike Judge's Beavis and Butt-Head Returns for Season 2
03/08 - HBO's Barry Returns April 16; Schmigadoon! Trailer for Season 2
03/07 - American Dad! Season 18 Premieres March 27; Hulu's Tiny Beautiful Things Launches April 7
03/06 - Antenna TV Spring 2023 Schedule; Rewind TV Spring 2023 Schedule
03/05 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 6, 2023)
03/04 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Rachael Ray to End After 17 Seasons; Fox Renews Krapopolis for Third Season
03/03 - The Thundermans Return; TMZ's New Game Show
03/02 - Fox Renews Krapopolis for Season 3; Disney Channel's New Comedy Saturdays
03/01 - HBO Max Chuck Lorre Comedy Sets Production; New Shonda Rhimes White House Series
02/28 - Apple TV+ Releases Trailer for Ted Lasso S3; More on Chris Rock's Netflix Special
02/27 - Modern Family Star Heads to Season 2 of The Santa Clauses; 29th Annual SAG Awards Winners
02/26 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of February 27, 2023)
02/25 - SitcomsOnline Digest: The Goldbergs to End After 10 Seasons; Decades to Rebrand as Catchy Comedy